When a woman declared she was running for president, it sent a huge shockwave through the country. Hillary’s campaign brought a lot of topics to the forefront of American debates, topics that had been put on the back burner for so long. Women were no longer content to play a silent role in our country, we took our issues all the way to the White House. Women, along with other marginalized groups, saw a candidate who was truly willing to represent them. Though Clinton lost the election, the effect her campaign had on the American people is still as relevant today as those who followed her are unwilling to quit fighting.
During her presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton was so inspirational to so many, and how those who supported her will continue the fight. Clinton recently spoke at Georgetown University and said “women’s voices are not shutting up.” Those words stand truer today than ever before. Women are powerfully speaking out and that is not going to stop anytime soon.
Below is a letter that I mailed to Hillary after the election which exemplifies how those who supported her will keep working towards a better future.
Dear Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton:
I know that you will likely receive many letters like this in the coming days; however, I still think it is important that you know how many out there supported you and believed in you. After what happened in the election, I was stunned. I kept refreshing the Google page every five minutes and watching the electors go up and being terrified. When the final result came in, I was completely shocked, and broke down in tears for the first time in a long time. Almost every woman I know texted me that night or in the days that followed to express their fear and anger. That night, one of my friends was drunk and sobbing for hours, texting me that she was afraid her father would get deported and urged him to look for work outside the U.S. My other friend who I was talking to kept leaving as gay friends of his called to express their terror. The suicide hotline was busy. This was not normal.
I had gone back home to New Jersey to vote, so the next morning, after a night of little sleep I was back on the train to go to class. My mother, who was very strong and also an avid supporter of yours, hugged me and told me to keep fighting the good fight before she went to work. I was somehow both distraught and numb, and walked around in a fog all day. I barely said anything in class even though the only thing anyone wanted to talk about was the election. I want you to know I am so sorry about what happened, and I can’t imagine the pain you must be feeling. You gave your life to public service, and the majority of voters agreed. It may seem impossible, but please know that my friends and I are equally as despondent and upset as you, if not more.
The night of November 9th, the day I was a wreck, I just wanted to go home and nap, but instead I went with two of my best friends to the Trump protest. I’m so glad I did because I met so many beautiful people who believed in equality and justice for all, which was the exact message of your campaign. I finally felt empowered again after feeling as though I had lost all power, and it had not yet been twenty-four hours since the results. The protest in NYC was very peaceful, and as far as I could tell there were no altercations with the police. For a first protest, it was a good one, and there have been protests every night since.
I’ve always been very active in the political process. I get hundreds of emails a day of petitions and have written countless letters to my legislators, and even though I’m only nineteen I’ve voted in three elections so far. My mom took me with her to vote for my first seventeen years in every election, without fail. She dropped me off at the voting booth the day we both voted for you (and down the ticket). I and all my friends believed in your campaign, and I donated a few times and got your “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” shirt, which I plan to continue wearing, and the limited edition supporter card days before the election. (I was actually miffed I didn’t manage to get the limited edition personalized “woman card.”) I plan to keep fighting tooth and nail to retain the rights that I and others in this country enjoy, but the truth is I feel completely lost and hopeless.
I’m not sure what to do right now except continue to protest and try to retake the House and Senate in 2018, but who knows what will happen until then? The truth is, I wish there was some way you could still win and we could have our first woman president, and that I and so many others would not have to fear for our rights. (The petition to get the electoral college to flip for you has over four million signatures, which I hope brightens your day a little. I sent it to everyone I know; the popular vote should win.) I wish I had your guidance on what to do next. I’m afraid as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, as a woman who may lose her access to birth control, and a member of a lower-middle class family rife with mental disorders. I’m also terrified for my friends who are PoC, some of whom have already been hit with racist slurs, even in NYC.
I feel like there was a big rift in the DNC this year, and I hope as we prepare for the major elections in 2018 and 2020 that our party can become more unified, and appeal to those we have lost in rural America. As a working-class family, I’ve always felt the Democrats advocated for the working class, but if not everyone feels that way than we should work on changing it. Please know I would happily vote for you, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, or any combination of you and any progressive the DNC gives me. Whatever you decide to do as far as running for president goes, I know your political career is not over, and please know you have my lifelong support. I didn’t vote for you merely to stop Trump, although that was a part of it; I really believed in your message, and I still do.
Lastly, the real point of me writing this letter is to thank you. Thank you for shattering so many glass ceilings and being an inspiration to so many women and girls. Ever since I was a little girl I have admired you and you are the only reason I even considered a career in politics in my youth. It wasn’t easy to be the first, but you broke new ground, and that is so important. You were the first woman to be nominated for President to a major party, and despite voter suppression, apathy, and third party voters, you still won the popular vote. That is incredible and I’m so grateful to you for doing that and encouraging other women to do the same. Thank you for letting me vote for a woman in my first presidential election, and the same woman who was first lady when I was born. I read over all your policies and I nearly cried when I saw the ones on mental health. My mom is her mom’s caretaker and my brother has autism, and you paid attention to two things I thought no one cared about. Please never doubt that you’ve made a real impact. You have.
If you took the time to read this after all the work you likely still have to do, then thank you again. It means more than I can say.
Respectfully,
Bethany Sattur
NYU Class of 2018
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